Kingdom Plantae Class Pinopsida Family Cupressaceae Rank Species | Division Pinophyta Order Pinales Genus Xanthocyparis | |
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Scientific name Xanthocyparis vietnamensis Similar Xanthocyparis, Cupressus torulosa, Cupressus stephensonii, Cupressus bakeri, Cupressus duclouxiana | ||
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis, commonly known as the Vietnamese golden cypress, is a coniferous tree in the cypress family.
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Distribution
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis is endemic to Vietnam, being native only to the karst limestone mountains of the Hà Giang Province in northern Vietnam.
Taxonomy
It was first discovered by western scientists only in October 1999 and was shortly thereafter described as a new genus and species, namely Xanthocyparis vietnamensis, closely related to Nootka cypress (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis), which was also transferred to this new genus. Subsequently, Little et al. (2004) pointed out that an earlier genus name Callitropsis had been given to Nootka cypress, but this name was later abandoned in favour of Xanthocyparis.
Conservation
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis is designated as a Endangered species, as only 560 individuals are known to exist, on only 10 km2 of habitat.
